“Why would you help us?” the red-tail leader asked again, staring at her injured ally, his breaths steady, but shallow. Slowly, she looked up towards Vekrem, and her eyes were all cold fury. “You know we wouldn’t have done the same.”

  “I know…” Vekrem replied, reaching to grab three hollowed out mushrooms. He placed one in my hand and then the leaders, which she took hesitantly.

  The mushroom was hard, but I soon realized that it was a sort of cup. Slowly, Vekrem poured each of us some water he had gathered earlier, and then dipped some sort of bag into each. I hadn’t realized how thirsty I was until I had the liquid just in front of me. I put the cup to my lips, taking the cold liquid into my mouth and letting it pour slowly down my throat. It was good…

  Really good!

  The red-tail leader stared at her cup with suspicion, but, seeing me drink, she lifted the cup to her own mouth, drinking deeply. Her red-furred ears twitched in pleasure, her fox-like nose scrunching up. Despite the situation, she smiled, showing white, sharp teeth.

  “Leave it to an alchemist to be able to brew a great tea,” she said, swirling the liquid in the cup.

  It was the nicest thing she’d said to the man thus far.

  Vekrem smiled softly to himself, his grin disappearing behind his own cup as he drank. When he was done, he lowered it. “You asked why I helped you, right?”

  The red-tail leader nodded, taking another swig.

  “The answer is because I wanted to,” Vekrem said. “It’s really that simple. I care little for politics or wars—in fact, I generally prefer my own company as opposed to others. It’s simpler that way. Humans, hybrids… I see very little difference between us. After all, we are all descendants of the original cursed humans—as much as others don’t want to admit it.”

  Looking at the red-furred fox creature, I could hardly believe that they were of human descent, yet she simply nodded to his words, going stoic. Quiet… as if they wrestled with some internal struggle.

  “Besides…” Vekrem added, “If I didn’t help, then your people would’ve killed me and my new friend. Think of this as a life for a life. Or, in this case, two lives for one. But—” Vekrem’s face went serious. “What I’ve done to save your friend—it’s only temporary. The rot will eventually begin to spread again. I’d like to offer a possible solution.”

  The red-tail leader’s eyes narrowed towards him. “I thought you said—”

  “I said I would save his life, not that I’d cure the rot. I now offer you just that. Or at least, I’ll try to do just that. I’ve been studying rot for a long time. You can say it’s my primary occupation. My goal in life. I have an idea to eradicate the rot for good.”

  The red-tail leader stood, walking to the injured chitik, placing her hand on his chest as she asked, “What is it?”

  “Sturoret’s, a type of land bird, are immune to the disease,” Vekrem replied. “In an attempt to develop a cure for the rot, I’ve studied their properties. Intricately. I believe if I can get a good enough sample, I’ll be able to cure your friend. But it’s a risk to whoever traverses the Primordial, their primary breeding grounds. I’ve been meaning to make the trip myself, but I needed a strong guide—” He turned to me. “Someone like my new human friend.”

  “And how long?” she asked, her voice breaking, appearing uneasy about the turn of events. “How long does Kech have?”

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Vekrem tapped his chin thoughtfully. “A few weeks? A month? Perhaps more? It’s unclear how long the rot will stay dormant—it works differently in everyone. I know that eventually it will rear its ugly head once more. And the next time, the rot will be too deep to draw back. Make no mistake… next time, it will kill him.”

  “I know…” she replied at the point of sobbing. “I know.” She turned to glance at me, and I knew it cost her a great deal as she threw her pride aside. “Well then, human… I never thought I would say this, but I put Kech’s life in your hands. Please… save him.”

  “Now wait a second—” I said, standing to address the room. “I never agreed to this. I’ve got my own shit to take care of. I can’t just—”

  “What are you, a coward?” I heard a familiar voice boom.

  It came from the back of my mind.

  “Dragon…” I replied. “There you are. Have a good nap? Pleasant dreams of stealing gold from innocent villages to hoard in a mountainside?”

  Dragon let the insult pass, instead, weighing down on me with his immense pressure. “I slumbered, yes, but I picked up pieces of what had transpired. You seemed to have used your power inadvertently, harming a local… whatever that thing is.”

  “He tried to kill me.”

  “As many others will do,” Dragon replied, quieter. “But, it is up to you how you choose to engage with the surrounding world’s. What is the saying? ‘Honey catches more flies than vinegar?’ Not that I know what either are; your head is filled with such strange things.”

  “Next you’ll tell me that with great power comes great—” I trailed off as the two of them looked at me with curious eyes.

  I was speaking out loud again.

  I coughed to clear my throat. “Don’t worry about me. So, Vekrem, you said you needed help in a place named ‘The Primordial.’ That sounds ominous… not a place I think I’m going to enjoy. But since I feel somewhat responsible, I guess I can help, so long as it doesn’t get in the way of the real reason I’m here.”

  “Excellent,” Vekrem replied, clapping his hands together, his long black nails clattering against one another. He turned towards the red-tail leader. “In the meantime… I’m sorry, what was your name?”

  “Saise,” she replied. “Of the Redore clan.”

  “Saise Redore,” Vekrem repeated. “I suggest you bring Kech back to your home. Get him all the healers you can. Keep him stable. He may seem fine for a few days, but eventually he will become sick again. The spread won’t be as quick the second time, but keep him calm. Keep him in bed; vigorous activity will only serve to quicken it.”

  Saise nodded at his words. “And how will you find us?”

  Vekrem snapped his fingers. “Glad you asked.” He went to the corner of the hut, rummaging through some chests to find what he was looking for. Pulling out a large parchment, he unrolled it onto the table. Taking a glance, I saw it was a map of the immediate area.

  I was having a hard time studying the map, but Saise took one glance, and then turned back towards Vekrem. “And how do I know you aren’t just trying to get me to give the location of our clan so that you can send other Rodrants to attack us? Your kind cannot be trusted—”

  “You’ve trusted me this far,” Vekrem countered. “Why not just trust me now? If I had wanted you dead, you would be dead. There are hundreds of concoctions I could have made to render everyone in here quite deceased. So… Do you trust me?” He smiled, and it was easy to tell it was forced.

  For someone who claimed to be perpetually alone, Vekrem had quite the way with words.

  Saise sighed, marking a circle on the map with her fingertip, leaving a small scratch in the parchment. “Here,” she said. “I’ll let them know you’re coming, and why. My people will be interested in a possible cure for the rot. If anyone other than you or the human shows, they will be killed on sight. Mark my words, it’ll start a war.”

  “Is war all you think about?” Vekrem replied, shooting her a contemptuous glare. “I’m trying to save a single life.” He held up a long, gnarled finger. “One life! Stop this nonsense about conflict this, and war that—it matters not to me.”

  Saise nodded as Kesh roused, sitting up on the bed of spores. He reached out a ginger hand towards her. “Sai… se. Where… am I?”

  She took his hand, placing it against her cheek. “Safe, my love. Safe.”